Freeport volunteers to clean up downtown Saturday

FREEPORT — A new grass-roots organization called Freeport in Action will oversee a volunteer effort to clean, weed and plant flowers in and around downtown Saturday.

And you can help them.

Founders Mark Diddens, Kathy Knodle and Bob Nickels have been involved with other organizations to help make Freeport a better place to live. But the trio wasn’t being as proactive as they would have liked, so they formed Freeport in Action in January. The group promises to be more about action than ideas.

“We’re organizers,” Diddens said. “We’re creating an opportunity for people to jump in and help out in the community instead of waiting for other people to do things. We feel that any great city gets that reputation because of the involvement of its own citizens. It takes the people’s involvement to step up, jump in and help make their town a better place.”

The group’s focus is simple: to restore a positive image of Freeport.

“We want to do everything we can to bring more people downtown and enhance businesses,” Diddens said.

Another ideas in the work is to dress up vacant downtown storefront windows with local artwork.

The downtown spring cleaning is the first project that Freeport In Action is tackling. Diddens hopes the turnout will near 150 people. All volunteers are encouraged to bring a broom so they can sweep up sand left over from the city’s winter snow and ice removal efforts.

“The economy — it’s tough times right now,” Diddens said. “But, where money is thin, manpower can make up the difference. There’s something special about Freeport. That’s why we’re all here. We see the potential, but it’s going to take everybody working together.”

Freeport Downtown Development Foundation Director Danielle Rogers believes the organization will have a positive impact on the city.

“It’s always good to see local residents with passion to do good start something like this,” Rogers said. “It’s exciting and it’s definitely going to be a good thing for the area.”